


Palace in the Clouds

by EntityShifter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, モブサイコ100 | Mob Psycho 100
Genre: Alternate Universe, Deaged!Reigen, Gen, Glory To The Sudden Plot Bunnies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 01:24:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8691082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EntityShifter/pseuds/EntityShifter
Summary: Each day, as his classmates play far away, Mob sits in the grass and stares at the big, fluffy clouds flowing past the airborn island’s edge. He dreams of the day the white, soft curtain will be swept away and he’ll be able to see the secrets it conceals.Each morning, as his brother gets ready for school, Ritsu smiles and wishes him a good day. But, as soon as Shigeo flies away, Ritsu lowers his head and silently wonders if he has even a drop of magic flowing in his veins.Each evening, on his way back home, Arataka hides in the alley and waits for the strange giant bird to land near the house across the street. As he watches its rider, a boy in light-pink yukata about a year younger than him, jump off, give his mount a friendly pat and run up to his mother, he is still too afraid to come closer and ask what the hell this means.A collection of torn snippets about three children and the magical world they live in.





	

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _So, during one of my usual AO3 surfs I came across this: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8592463/chapters/19704373_   
>  _It got the wheels in my head turning. Really, what if the MP100 took place in the wizarding world? Just how would it work?_   
>  _Swept by an idea, I’ve promptly fell into the plot-rabbit-hole. This was born very spontaneously over the course of two days. While I do realize that not only I need to do a bunch of important things instead, or that I’ve just finished Limit Break and starting yet another AU would be extremely unwise, I have an itch that needs to be scratched lest I lose my sleep thinking about it overnight._   
>  _I have no idea when, or how often it will be updated (or how far it’ll go, really). Please forgive me._

Shigeo is barely three when the strangest thing happens.

His plush bunny rises higher and higher until its stubby plush paws bump into the ceiling, and his parents laugh and smile. Shigeo sees his mother clap her hands in delight, and his father picks him up and raises him as high as he can in celebration.

He uses this to get his bunny back. As he is lowered down to the floor again, and as his parents run off to the kitchen to boil some water for the tea, chattering excitedly, the little boy is reassured in two things.

First, _it were his powers that made Mr.Carrot fly_.

Two, _this was good_.

Shigeo will learn that he is a wizard only two years later.

 

 

Ritsu frowns and shifts on the cold kitchen floor – ceramic tiles aren’t exactly comfortable surface to sit on. He struggles to hear the conversation at the other side of the door, his breath held, hitched and shallow, trying not to miss a word.

Ritsu listens, as his parents explain to his brother about magic. As they reveal that they are wizards, and that Shigeo is the one too. As they tell him about a mysterious island, hidden from the eyes of the not-gifted, a place where all young wizards go when the time comes. They refuse to reveal the specifics, however, and Ritsu pouts, wishing that he could learn more.

He hates to admit it, but he is jealous of his brother.

His parents are magical.

Shigeo is magical too. He made his toys fly when he was just a tiny baby.

Meanwhile Ritsu is normal and boring. Why, he is already four, but he can’t do anything special at all!   

Shigeo will go to the place all magical people go to, while he will stay confined at home.

_They didn’t even call me to sit with them and listen about magic, they want to hide the knowledge from me, because I can’t make magic happen_ , Ritsu thinks.

A torrent of tears starts to stream down his cheeks. Before his mind is even able to register this, Ritsu is already crying.

Someone hastily moves from the living room to his hideout, and the door opens with a swing. There is nothing for his back to lean on now, and Ritsu falls backwards. Strong hands catch him before he hits the floor, hoisting the small body up.

As he is carried into the brightly lit room by his father, Ritsu squints and desperately tries to hide his tear-streaked face from his mother and brother.

The next moment, he is already seated on the soft couch, and Shigeo pulls him into an awkward hug, asking what’s wrong.

He lets them know, and watches as his big brother trembles in rage and throws couch pillows at their parents for their horrible oversight, and mum and dad don’t even make an attempt to stop the pillows from hitting them in the heads, faces shocked, lost and guilty.

They join in the hug, whispering _sorry, it’s okay, you are just a late waker, don’t hasten things, magic will come to you on its own when the time comes..._

Ritsu holds back tears and nods.

_Yes_ , he thinks. _It’s okay. I just need to wait._

Wrapped into the warm embrace of his family, he dozes off.

 

 

On the Sunday morning, seven-year old Arataka carefully peeks out of his room and sneaks into the corridor. He perches near the steps leading down to the first floor, grasping the nearby wooden column to steady himself, and watches as the rays of warm July sun dive from under the entrance door, squeezing their way into the home through the little gap between the door and the doorstep.

_Something important is going to happen_ , he knows.

As the chirping call of their electric doorbell resounds through the house, Arataka hears his mother clink dishes in the kitchen. When he sees her shuffle to the door, he nearly jumps in place. When she opens the door and he sees somebody standing on the other side, a strange man which looks like he stepped right out of the old history book, he breaks his cool and hides behind the wall, giving up his precious lookout spot.

He hears them speak quietly, and manages to make out some bits and pieces, like his own name and such words as _exception, tution, exam_... was that man sent by the school?

_I’m of age to go to school, so that must be it_ , Arataka nods to himself.

Another word catches his attention.

Magic.

_Magic, or sorcery - the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces_ , his mind helpfully whispers.

A swarm of questions is swirling in his head, and he peeks out again... just as his mother closes the door.

The boy freezes, his eyes burning through the slim figure of the tired woman, just as she raises her head and stares right at him.

Or, rather, _through him_ , her eyes showing no sign that she actually sees him, perched near the steps, hands clutching ornate columns of the handles like the bars of a cage, his funny blue-striped pyjamas a perfect imitation of a prisoner.

Arataka watches, confused, as his mother sighs and fiddles with her apron, hiding her hands in the rough cotton fabric.

“Still sleeping, of course,” he hears her mutter.

She shuffles back to the kitchen, and the dishes resume their clinking. The stove hisses, and the smell of fried rice wafts to Arataka’s hiding place. He scuttles back to his room.

When his mother calls him down for breakfast, he is already changed, and it takes him just a few minutes (he waits a bit, for believability) to skip down the stairs, enter the kitchen and hop on his chair.

“You look worried,” he carefully inquires, poking at his rice. “Is something wrong?”

She pauses, startled. The wok clinks aganist the sink, water running down the smooth black surface.

“No, nothing.”

Arataka frowns.

“You aren’t doing a good job hiding this “nothing”, mum.” He points a spoon at her accusingly. “I should support you as much as I can, especially after dad’s gone, so tell me. Please?”

She sighs and closes the tap.

“It’s nothing, really. A... representative from the school visited. They wanted to... offer you a place.”

“Which school?”

“It doesn’t matter. You won’t be going there.”

“Why?”

“It... it’s a private school...very, very far away, and the tution costs are high...”

He nods.

“I understand. We don’t have the money, and you still need me.”

“I’m so sorry, my dear...” She starts crying.

Arataka quickly shovels the rest of the rice in his mouth, swallows without chewing, quickly moves to his mother and gives her a hug, when she kneels to his eye level.

“It’s okay,” he mutters. “I will go to a normal, public school. I’m not going anywhere.”

_I’m not going to leave you just as he did._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I’ve tried to stop myself, really, but my brain said something along the lines “You’ll never get this topic tackled in the way you want it to be tackled. So move it, or I’ll deprive you of sleep. You want another four days of dreaming about nothing but Honeido Tunnel in a row again?”_   
>  _So... uh... here. Just needed to get it out._   
>  _A bit of clarification:_   
>  _There is no espers in this world. Just wizards._   
>  _Reigen got deaged because I’ve wanted to try something different._


End file.
